Unibet Group’s board of directors has proposed changing its name to Kindred Group plc to better reflect the operator's multi-brand strategy.

The proposal has been put forward with Unibet Group growing to encompass a number of brands over the past nine years following a number of acquisitions. It currently operates the Unibet, MariaCasino, Bingo.com, Stan James and iGame brands.

Unibet's board believes that the business will be better equipped to tap into the full potential of these brands with a name that differs from its main consumer brand.

The Unibet brand remains one of the strongest consumer brands in the sports betting, casino, bingo and poker sector, the board says, but the it fears it may create confusion by having the same company name as consumer brand.

The name change also includes a revised graphic identity to better cater for a group company that can serve a multitude of brands across several markets. The name change is a central part of the growth strategy and will not affect any of the consumer facing brands. Instead it creates clarity and flexibility, thereby optimising efficiency and lowering risk, believes the board.

"In this rapidly changing industry, clarity is essential,” Unibet chairman Anders Ström explained. "This is why we now propose to change the name of our group company, thereby avoiding confusion and creating better conditions for our future growth.

"This is a minor and predominantly internal change as all the customer facing brands, such as Unibet, MariaCasino, Bingo.com, Stan James and iGame will remain the same," he continued. "The change only relates to the group name."

Unibet chief executive Henrik Tjärnström said that introducing a group name separate from the consumer-facing brands would provide the company with "the necessary strategic flexibility to ensure [it] remains at the very forefront of [the] industry.

"As a group we have played an important part in driving the industry forward, and we intend to continue to do so in the future," Tjärnström explained.

The operator believes the name Kindred Group will also reflect its broader geographic reach, with the company now active in a wider range of markets across Europe and in Australia.

The name change is to be voted on by the company's owners at an extraordinary general meeting, which the board intends to call for December 6th in Stockholm.

Should the change be approved the company will begin trading under the Kindred name on the NASDAQ Stockholm stock exchange on December 12th.

Shares in Unibet Group plc (Co.Data) (STO:UNIB) are trading down 1.24 per cent at SEK79.60 per share in Stockholm as of 13:32 EST on Thursday September 29th.